Longview commissioners delay decision on coal export facility

After four hours of testimony Tuesday, Cowlitz County commissioners delayed a decision [until next Tuesday] whether to allow an Australia-based company to build a coal export facility at the former Reynolds Metals site in Longview.

About 30 people, most of them opposed, spoke up about Millenium Bulk Logistics’ proposal to haul coal from Wyoming to Longview and then export as much as 5 million tons annually to Asia.

This summer, regulators threatened to evict Chinook Ventures and Alcoa Inc., which owns the land, if they did not apply obtain permits for the work Chinook was doing on the site.

“We’ve had a really tough go with this site the last couple years. It’s been nothing but problems, and it’s still a problem,” Commissioner Swanson said.